Monday, August 29, 2011

Hurricanes Are Emotionally Exhausting

So, Hurricane Irene hit us a little harder than I anticipated. My God! What an emotionally exhausting weekend! Were you in harms way? How did you fare during the storm? We experienced lots and lots and lots of water. High winds and tornado warnings. Our home survived with very little damage, but other people in our area weren't so lucky. Some of our friends lost power early on, and ended up with completely flooded basements (horrifying). Other families in the Philadelphia area suffered major damage from floods and high winds. I listen to their stories on the local news and my heart breaks. It was a very scary night and I hope we never have to experience something like that again.

After this weekend, I learned a few things:

1. We need a sump pump (and maybe a generator-- can't be too prepared!)
2. We have way too much junk in our basement
3. There's a leak near one of our chimneys
4. My husband and I work very well together under pressure
5. The Philadelphia news teams on ABC, CBS, and NBC are tremendous. These people stayed on the air for 12+ hours straight, giving us the latest updates and weather reports. They helped people stay connected and get prepared.
6. I'm so proud of my new city.

This storm has set me back a few days (let's put it this way: there are half a dozen storage bins in my office that were previously living in the basement). The house is a total mess. So, I need a take a quick little break from the blog this week to recover. But, I promise to be back soon.

Until then, I'm sending lots of love to you, my dear readers!
Have a fabulous week!

So sorry, but I'm glad you didn't have damage. As a former Floridian who has been through several, it is really stressful. I was trying to get back to NYC from vacation and ended up traveling 14 hours to my dad's house in Florida. Today we are flying to Baltimore and driving the rest of the way. We've spent about $2500 extra in air fare so far!

Just got power after 2.5 days in Delaware Co. I've never been so happy for hot water before in my life. :) So glad to hear the house did ok...ours too, thankfully. We were prepared with candles and ice but we'll be getting a generator for next time anyway. The freezer began to defrost onto the kitchen's wood floors which gave me palpitations.

My M-I-L has the coolest generator for her house. It AUTOMATICALLY starts up when the power goes off, and then shuts itself off when power is restored. Once a month it exercises itself without human interference. It's a beautiful thing.

I am on Long Island. We still do not have power since Sunday am. It's a nightmare and very emotionally draining. Thankfully we didn't experience much damage to our home, but others have. Tons of trees, wires, transformers and electric poles are down. There are no answers for power restoration. It's very very scary.

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about

Kelly Robson

High Street Market shop co-founder, interior designer, wife to Dave, and mommy to William and June. Living in Philadelphia, born and raised in California. Renovating a historic home and trying to enjoy all the beautiful things in life.